dirt / By Amy Stewart

Don’t Water

Now, some of your plants just might die. That’s okay. It’s just their way of telling you that they don’t belong in a no-water garden. Pull them out if you can’t stand the sight of them, or leave them in the ground until it starts to rain again to make absolutely sure they’re not going to green up again.

But once you know they’re dead, toss them on the compost pile and replace them with whatever did survive without water. If you do this at the beginning of next year’s rainy season, you can probably divide or propagate your survivors, which means that you won’t even have to spend money on new plants. See how easy that is?

The Slightly More Organized Approach to a No-Water Garden: If that approach seems a little too haphazard, try this instead. Go to a native plant nursery, or head down to your favorite garden center and ask to see the native plants. Pick the plants that work in your exact location, with your specific light and water situation, and take those home and plant them. Replace your grass, replace your thirsty perennials, replace your fussy annuals. Do it now while we still have some rain. You might have to water them a little to get them through their first summer, but after that they should be fine. They’re natives, after all. And remember that these plants serve as hosts for all sorts of worthy bees, butterflies, and other wild critters, so you’ll be doing some good for the ecosystem, too. The North Coast chapter of the California Native Plant Society offers information and consultations; check them out at northcoastcnps.org.

And If You Must Water Just a Little Bit: But wait, you say. I must have dahlias. I must have tomatoes. Life is not worth living without my hybrid tea roses and my Thai basil.

Fair enough. But first, do a little cost-benefit analysis. If it’s really going to cost you a hundred bucks a month to keep your flowers and veggies going, couldn’t that money be put to better use at the local farmer’s market? Help a farmer, get great stuff and turn your garden into a bug-and-bird-friendly native plant oasis? Just a thought.

But if you must water, do these things to lower your water bill. Round up those water-loving plants you can’t live without and put them in one place. Add lots of compost to improve drainage and help the plants put down roots. Then install some drip irrigation or a soaker hose. Water deeply once or twice a week during the dry season.

And if you feel like your garden is almost making it without water, but not quite? Maybe you can tolerate a no-water garden but you long for just a little more green or a few more blooms in summer? Water deeply once a month. That’s right, once a month. Put out some sprinklers in the evening and make it rain. Just dig down to make sure the water soaks in — watering the top few inches of soil wastes your time and money, and encourages weeds.

One final thought for those of you who worry about what it’s going to cost to water your garden: My garden designer friend in Tucson regularly gets calls from homeowners who are spending as much as $1,000/month to water their garden. So — you know. It could be worse.

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